Conformity and Obedience

Conformity and ObedienceTask: outline and evaluate findings from conformity and obedience research and consider explanations for conformity (and non-conformity), as well as evaluating Milgram’s studies of obedience (including ethical issues).

The following essay will be about understanding what is meant by and distinguishing the differences between the terms conformity and obedience. It will show the evaluation of two key psychological studies which seek to explain why people do and do not conform, also with explanations of minority influence. Whilst seeking to understand the reasons why people obey authority, it will show an evaluation of Milgram’s study of obedience, discussing the ethical issues raised from the research and assessing whether the knowledge gained about human behaviour justifies Milgram’s experiments.

Most people like to feel that they make their own decisions, but in reality they are often just ‘conforming’ by adjusting their actions, attitudes or opinions so that they fit in with those of other people, or just simply to ‘go with the flow’. This happens as a result of real or imagined group pressure (Myers) in (Cardwell 2001), and may result in a change in beliefs or behaviour. Nobody tells you to conform, and you may not even realise you are doing it as it is implied or implicit. Throughout the course of our lives we become associated with or attached to groups which will each have its own responses expected of it. As a bus passenger you are expected to behave in a certain way, although your attitude may not be as important. As a football fan your attitude towards your team is important where as your behaviour may not be as important. As a parent the attitudes towards your children are supposed to include encouragement and you expected to demonstrate protective and helpful behaviour. It can be found to say that recognising and acting within the pro-social norms of a group may be seen as a desirable act, whereas unthinking conformity to a deviant group opinion might be considered less attractive and more of a trait. Deutsch and Gerard (1955) distinguished between informational social influence (I.S.I) and normative social influence (N.S.I).

I.S.I - To feel in charge of our lives we all have a basic need for certainty. We need to know our beliefs and ideas are correct and acceptable. If we don’t know how to behave in a situation such as first day at college/work, we look for information to tell us the correct way to act. When were unsure about something we seek for others opinion. In this way we can use that information to evaluate and form our own opinion; although this happens more in situations we’re not familiar with. There is also novel or ambiguous situations, such as when a fire alarm goes off accidently, people may look to others for guidance. If they appear to know the answer people will probably go along with or conform to their behaviour. If we conform because of I.S.I it’s highly likely that we internally believe the opinions we adopt. At first we’re unsure what to believe, which is why we compare our ideas with others, and become converted to share their views. ISI is based on the need to be right. When people are unsure of their own judgement they often accept the judgement of others as a guide. N.S.I – we conform in order to belong, to be liked and to be approved by others as people are more likely to accept us if we agree with them. All social groups have norms which define appropriate behaviour for its members. Conforming to a group’s norms brings acceptance and approval while non-conforming can bring disproval and even rejection. According to Kelman (1958) there are three forms of N.S.I. They are compliance, internalisation and identification. You may publically go along with a group’s ideas or norms to be accepted. People act in accordance with the majority but don’t agree or change their own beliefs or ideas privately. This is called Compliance. Internalisation is where...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...Conformity and Obedience.
In order to answer the question it is first necessary to define conformity and obedience. According to Woods, (2001 p. 107):
‘
We often adjust our actions or opinions so that they fit in well with those of other people. This is known as social conformity ......’
And Gross, (2001 pg.392) stated that:
Obedience is affected by direction (from somebody in higher authority).
This essay will explore circumstances in which we are likely to conform; or obey others. This will be done by drawing on research carried out by Milgram, Asch, Crutchfield and Zimbardo.
There are many ways in which we conform; some are useful others are not. For example, if we did not conform and adhere to the Highway Code there would be absolute chaos on our roads and lives would be at risk. At the other end of the scale we have the horrific example of ‘blind’ obedience in relation to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany in the 1930’s – 40’s. In this situation Hitler’s soldiers obeyed and carried out their orders without question because their orders came from a legitimate authority. (Mcilveen & Gross, 1999, pp. 79-80).
In 1963 Stanley Milgram carried out a psychological experiment to try to discover why so many people co-operated and committed such atrocities in the concentration camps. This experiment involved groups of two people one – a...

...Conformity and Obedience
Why do we conform? Two basic sources of influence: normative social influence, the need to be liked, accepted by others and Informational influence: need to be correct and to behave in accordance with reality.
Solomon Asch (1956) devised an experiment to see if subjects would conform even if they were uncertain that the group norm was incorrect. In his study he asked subjects to take part in an experiment. They were each asked to match a standard length line with three other lines.
He found that one of the situational factors of conformity is the size of the opposing majority. In a series of studies he varied the number of confederates that gave correct answers from 1 -15. He found that subjects conformed to a group of 3 or 4 as readily as they did to a larger group. Some of the subjects indicated afterward that they assumed the rest of the people were correct and that their own perceptions were wrong. Others knew they were correct but didn't want to be different from the rest of the group. Some even insisted that they saw the line lengths as the majority claimed to see them.
Asch and his students did many variations of the study for example they altered the differences between the line lengths making them much smaller and so the correct answer was much less certain, this showed that the conformity increased. What seems to happen is that we have more need for a groups input as a...

...This Essay will discuss the factors influencing the behaviour of Mark, in relation to conformity and obedience. Should he comply and obey with his officer’s strict instructions to work alone, or will he stop to help a fellow trainee. Mark is a soldier on training in the Brecon Beacons, he is under order to work alone and not to stop to help anyone. Mark is working well and is on track with about 5 other soldiers who he already knows. Whilst running through the country, Mark hears a colleague (whom he has not met before) shouting for help.
Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in behaviour, attitude or belief in order to fit in, these changes are in response to either real or imagined group pressure, such as the fear of rejection from a group, lack of information, belief that others are right or not wanting to upset others within the group, this occurs in situations, whereby individuals or small groups are exposed to a majority view. Obedience is not a social influence or response to group pressure, but a following of instruction usually by someone we see as higher authoritative status than ourselves, obedience is deeply implemented from an early age, when we are taught to obey parents, teachers and elders ( Pennington and Mcloughlin, 2008)
Through looking at studies and experiments of conformity and obedience it is plausible to suggest that in this...

...﻿Sonia sawmmal
Dr. Young
ENG. 101
09.30.14
Obedience and conformity in society: an undeniable human need.
Obedience and conformity in society, the desire to be accepted and belonging to a group is an undeniable human need. If people face with any kind of social impact such as group pressure, great part of them shows conformity (the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms.) A person conforms if he or she chooses a course of action that a majority favors or that is socially acceptable. In nearly all societies, certain people are given power and authority over others. Obedience happens when someone performs an action under the orders of an authority figure. Parental relationships, workplace hierarchies, military units and school settings are all examples of how authority figures use obedience to accomplish tasks. The reason why people conform and obey the authority is because they feel that it is their duty to obey orders because they were told to do so. Back in Middle School, I was the “new” kid because I had just moved from a different state to Maryland. Everybody knew each other from elementary school and whatnot. I was really shy because I did not know anybody and plus that was my personality. Even during elementary school, I was really quiet even with my friends. I wanted to be able to fit in the group in middle school so I...

...CONFORMITY AND OBEDIENCE
* CONFORMITY
* A change in behavior or belief as the result of real or imagined group pressure. – Meyer
* is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group.
* can also be simply defined as “yielding to group pressures”.
* is often used to indicate an agreement to the majority position, brought about either by
* a desire to ‘fit in’
* or be liked (normative)
* or because of a desire to be correct (informational),
* or simply to conform to a social role (identification).
For Example:
There have been many experiments in psychology investigating conformity and group pressure.
* Jenness (1932) was the first psychologist to study conformity.
* His experiment was an ambiguous situation involving a glass bottle filled with beans. He asked participants individually to estimate how many beans the bottle contained. Jenness then put the group in a room with the bottle, and asked them to provide a group estimate through discussion. Participants were then asked to estimate the number on their own again to find whether their initial estimates had altered based on the influence of the majority. Jenness then interviewed the participants individually again, and asked if they would like to change their original estimates, or stay with the group's estimate. Almost all changed...

...CONFORMITY AND OBEDIENCE
Barbara Fellows
Grand Canyon University
January 9, 2013
Conformity and Obedience
Comprehending the essence of obedience and disobedience has been an interest for many researchers, psychologists and scientists. Multiple observations have been administered to assist in understanding such issues and the impact employed by outside factors on individuals within the decision making channels. Neglecting obedience can be as hazardous as neglecting revolution in any society; neither is accomplished with self-observation as a component of the process. Personal interest and concern must be incorporated in determining the appropriate moment for thoughtful disobedience in an effort to preserve society. As a result, several psychologists such as Stanley Milgram have examined the effects of obedience and conformity; thus challenging the accepted prototype of individual freedom, and is confronted with judgments of ethical value. This paper will examine Milgram’s research and his interpretation of those results; while examining current research to determine its degree of support as it relates to conformity and obedience.
Milgram’s research
Conformity is often defined as the influence of an individual’s beliefs, behavior and attitude by others or outside forces. Obedience...

...Conformity and Obedience Assignment
In this assignment I intend to evaluate Stanley Milgrams studies of obedience and in particular the ethical issues broken. I hope to determine whether the knowledge gained justifies his experiments.
After the destruction and atrocities committed in World War II many historians argued that there must be some sort of character defect that made the German people more obedient. Mailgram’s study was an attempt to test ‘the Germans are different’ hypothesis. The hypothesis states that Germans are more likely a person or people in authority regardless of what the act is. (Social psychology handbook pg.8)
Milgram conducted an experiment into the nature of obedience in 1963 at the prestigious Yale University. The aim of the experiment was to investigate the level of obedience participant would go to in giving electric shocks to another person when ordered to by an authority figure. (Social psychology handbook pg.8)
Milgram issued an advertisement in a local paper requesting people aged 20-50 from all walks of life, excluding students to take part in an experiment at Yale University. The experiment would last an hour and the pay was four dollars fifty. The participants were told they were getting paid for coming to the laboratory regardless of the results of the experiment. (Gross, 2010, pg. 416)
40 male participants were selected; they arrived at Yale university...

...CioConformity obedience and authority
Conformity basically means compliance with common practices
Compliance means doing what other people in our social standing do in our daily lives. Most people, in most social groups, conform in everyday things like speech, dress codes, eating habits etc.
This kind of conformity is known as ‘’Social control’’- the numerous pressure as individuals grow turns them from babies into members of our society. The main agencies of social control are the family, the peer group, the media, religion, employment and the law. All of these encourage conformity of one kind or another. The conformity types of behaviour are called ‘’social norms’’
Social norms; these are the normal types of behaviour in normal social groups
* Age groups
* Colleges and classes in college
* People of same social economic background
* Women/Men
* Ethnic groups
The role of self-esteem in Conformity;
Low self-esteem is linked to feelings of insecurity. Research has tended to show that people with low self-esteem, or low feelings of security, are most likely to be the people that would conform. It is believed that those with low self-esteem can increase their sense of personal security if they belong to a group and adopting its norms because there is ‘’safety in numbers’’
Self-esteem is related to how a person has been brought up, academical performance and to...